Note to self: Stosur in sight of childhood dream

Stosur still has an outside shot at taking the number one spot before the end of the year.

Emmanuel Dunand: AFP

As Sam Stosur caps off her best US Open campaign, a blast from the past may help her make a final push to reach world number one.

A time capsule at the tennis star's primary school has just been unearthed containing an 11-year-old Stosur's dreams for 2010.

In her contribution Stosur said she would like to be world number one by 2010.

Gaven State School deputy principal Jeff Woodgate told 612 ABC Brisbane even at a young age, Stosur's potential was plain to see.

"I was one of the foundation staff members at the school in 1995, and Samantha... was already a very, very good tennis player," he said.

And Mr Woodgate said the timing of unearthing the capsule was not designed to coincide with Stosur's recent run of form.

"It had been placed under a plaque and the plaque had said that it was to be opened it 15 years' time. And the people that placed it there had made that decision," he said.

Currently ranked sixth in the women's singles world rankings, the 26-year-old's rise to the top has been a long time coming.

After languishing in the top 50 for much of the past decade, her top 10 debut in 2010 was marked by a number of high-profile scalps, including Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic.

While Stosur's US Open quarter-final defeat at the hands of Kim Clijsters makes the attainment of her 15-year-old dream harder to accomplish, she still has an outside shot at taking the number one spot before the end of the year.

The only player to have beaten Williams at a major in 2010, Stosur can end the year as number one were she to win in Doha and the American, who has not played since Wimbledon because of foot surgery, flops or misses the tournament.